Ammonia dynamics in fish ponds

The measurement of ammonia concentration (and that of many other water quality variables) provides only a snapshot of conditions at the time a water sample is collected. A single measurement provides no insight into the processes that affect ammonia concentrations; it is simply the net result of processes that produce ammonia and processes that remove or transform ammonia. The relationships among these processes are complex, but the important point is that the rates change differentially throughout the year and result in the measured patterns.